Manolo’s Shoe Blog

Manolo says, this would look good at the manicurist’s.

Manolo says, it is the Tuesday, and here is what the Manolo is…

Reading…

Watching…

Listening to…

The Manolo he cannot but recommend to you this book by the Joan DeJean, The Essence of Style : How the French Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafes, Style, Sophistication, and Glamour. It combines several of the Manolo’s many obsessions: shoes, and fashion, and cuisine, and the history of the shoes, and the history of the fashion, and the history of the cuisine, and the importance of the luxury and the style.

There is the entire chapter devoted to the development of the super sexy shoes at the court of the Louis XIV. Even the better, the Joan DeJean she even understands that one of the Manolo’s favorite works of the art, the Fragonard’s Swing, it is all about the shoes!

This it is indeed the super fantastic book!

Manolo says, many of the Manolo’s internet friends have emailed the Manolo about the story of the college girls who wore the flip-flops to meet the Mr. President.

Before visiting the White House, Kate Darmody carefully planned her outfit. She bought a sundress from Ann Taylor. She put on a strand of white pearls.

And then she slipped on flip-flops to meet the president. So did about half of her teammates from the national championship Northwestern University women’s lacrosse team, invited to the White House last Tuesday after a 21-0 season.

She didn’t think twice about the footwear until she got an e-mail - in all capital letters -from her brother.

“YOU WORE FLIP-FLOPS TO THE WHITE HOUSE????!!!!” he wrote after checking out the picture on the team’s website.

What can the Manolo possibly say to this, except to note, as he has noted in the past, that we live in the sadly debased era, when the standards of the proper dress and the fit comportment have become the mere suggestions, to be observed or not observed at the whim of the individual.

These girls they do not know–their mamas have not taught them–that properly dressing according to the occasion, it is about the respect; respect for the occasion, respect for the other persons present, and respect for the self.

Yes, the Manolo he is most happy we live in the age of democratic informality, when the humble need not bow and scrape before the mighty, when free peoples may greet each other in the spirit of amity and concord as equals. Yet, at the same of the time, he cannot help but think that we have gone too far in this process of the levelling.

To the mind of the Manolo, the somewhat exaggerated politeness and more formal dress of the previous era gave the dignity and proper sense of self to even the most humble. To put on the suit and tie and shined shoes, to wear the dress and stockings and pumps, these things they recalled one to correct behavior, and demanded of others the respect.

Now, we wear the flip-flops and the shirts of the Hawaiians to the church, and to the funerals, and to meet the Mr. President in the House of Whiteness, and we think that this it is fine, but this it is only because we have forgotten the pleasures and social benefits to be had in dressing properly.

Manolo says, even the chickens they have been airbrushed.

Manolo says, the summer it is slipping through the fingers, and soon we must begin to prepare for the neiges of the winter,

Happily, there is yet perhaps the time to contemplate, to celebrate, the cheerful and simple beauty of the summery yellow shoes.

Manolo says, the lazy eye, it is this season’s black!

Manolo says, Ayyyyyyy! This site, it is the pure genius!

Manolos says, the Manolo he is often asked the question, “Manolo, what sort of the shoe should I absolutely not wear?”

This question, it is so easy to answer. Under no of the circumstances should you ever wear the ugly shoes or the cheap shoes.

The Manolo, he knows that the temptation for the cheap shoes, it is great. What with the rent and the foods and the many different bills, you are finding it difficult to get by on what “the man” he pays you.

So, you are the shopping when you see these boots, selling for under fifty of the dollars.

Yes it is the knee-length boot, in the black. It’s not the best looking boot, but you only have fifty of the dollars, and like all of the super fantastic girls you need the boots in the black knee-length, so you ask the shopgirl to get it for you in the your size.

Manolo shouts, NOOOooooo!

Do not, under any of the circumstances, give in to the temptation and buy this boot!

It is the cheap, cheap, cheap, manufactured in the China with the plastic and the leather made from the roadkilled pets! It will not fit properly, it will fall apart quickly, and it looks only okay, not the super fantastic.

Manolo says, you will always regret the purchasing of the cheap shoes.

Manolo he reminds you that the cheap it is different from the inexpensive, from the bargain. Who does not love the bargain? The bargain, it is the classic, super fantastic shoe at the good price.

The cheap it is the the awful shoe at any price.

Manolo says, the second sort of shoe you should never consider the wearing of, is the ugly shoe.

The Manolo he does not need to say any more.

Manolo says, continuing the topic of the dangerous shoes, here is the picture of the famous shoes of the Vivienne Westwood that the Naomi Campbell toppled from in the 1993.

As the piece of the trivia, those shoes, they were laced onto the feet of the Naomi Campbell by the Holly Dunlap, of the Hollywould. (See the entry for the July 11, 2004)